attleej

It is definitely the Series one. John

However, it is interesting to see how well what we would "low mobility vehicles" do in Africa off metalled roads. BTW on the Cuthbertson Landrover, we have one at the REME Museum which presumably came form Beverley. John

It is probably a 1300 or 1400 series Hardy Spicer. I think that you will find that the Pitch Circle Diameter of the bolt holes will be convenient imperial size. What also matters is the outside diameter of the drive flange, the OD of the locating spigot and the overall length of the shaft when the spines are in a suitable position. Judging by the amount of rust on the flange, the UJs will have to be dismantled for inspection before the shaft can be relied upon. If you google "1300 or 1400 series Hardy Spicer you might find a data sheet. John

As I recall, the Saxon had GKN Kirkstall axles with hub reductions and S cam brakes. What was interesting is that many vehicles of that era had the same GKN axles. You would think that provided parts for comonallity (however it is spelt!) . Oh no! There were different pat nos for each vehicle. You would have thought that thye would have insisted that the shoes, bearings and oil seals had the same pt no in order to reap the benefits of using the same axle across a wide range of vehicles. (Foden EKA, Foden DROPS, Leyland DAF DROPS, Bed TM, Saxon, BR90 to name a few. However, looking at the photo these photos, these shoes are not for S cams. The Kirkstall axle used beautiful cast iron shoes. Possibly they are for a Saxon transmission brake if it did not use spring brakes. John

I would expect that the thread might be BSP, probably, 1/4 BSP. I have not used helicoils but I would machine an adaptor that screwed right in and took advantage of all the threads remaining below the stripped ones. It would want to be locktited to seal it. What sized spanner fits the banjo bolt! It would not take long and I would be happy to do it for you if you are in Esher. I have all the taps and dies that the tread could conceivably be. John

I think that it is a good idea to keep an HGV licence going for as long as possible because it is a good claim to be able make. "I must be OK as I still have an HGV licence". We are not very likely to just drop dead. (fingers crossed!) John

Old Joe, is currently at the REME Museum reserve collection building being looked after. 23YZ80 lasts served with 240 Tk Tptr Sqn, RCT (V) where I served and got the Tank Transporter disease. John

Interesting. Presumably they made their own box so that they could have a power take off for the propulsion units at full engine RPM and torque and still be able to engage a rage of forward gears to get out of the water. John

An interesting question is, if the later stollys did not have the Meadows gearbox, what were they fitted with? John

Dear All, The 24 volt 30 amp BUTEC alternator on my Scammell Contractor with Cummins NTC 335 engine has gone belly up. The cause of failure is the breakage of stator windings so that I cannot reconnect. I am replacing the BUTEC alternator with a more common CAV type AC5 alternator which delivers 55 amps. If anyone needs the old BUTEC alternator for parts for theirs, it is available FOC. Otherwise, I will try to keep it in stock for spares, just in case. John

Well done for taking her out! John

In my experience, the best thing to do it to blast clean the chassis and have it primed immediately. Then it is just a case of making sure that the subsequent coats are compatible. If you look at my Scammell Contractor chassis (which is now at Capel) you will see that although it was blasted about 17 years ago, it is still quite good even where it has had some insults. Most importantly, the rust does not seem to travel under the paint. John

I could make six 3/8 UNF nuts with 5/8 A/F hex but they would be in EN1A which would be OK if the thread length was not short. John

Rob, OM33 is bog standard hydraulic oil. I am sure that the crane will be very unfussy and I would not lose any sleep over it. John

By "protected" I mean the difference between a soft skinned, hopefully, 4 X 4 vehicle and an AFV. The mobility would be very good as pointed out. John

Terry is right to sound a note of caution. No doubt there will be some crooks and dreamers trying to get in on the action. The key points are: If they claim to be a charity where are they based and who is regulating them? Most importantly, if they are sending AFVs to Ukraine, have they got an export licence and / or who is going to get one? If they they have got a licence you want to see it. If they clam up with the words "export licence" they are dodgy. On the 76mm I think that the attraction of CVR(T) is the protected mobility rather than the firepower. Also, do not underestimate the effectiveness of a turret mounted machine gun with the correct or effective optical sights. John

Further to my original post and taking into consideration what others have said I would opine as follows: First of all I have operated a Martian over 1000's of miles. They are very forgiving in terms of the power steering oil. We put in OM 33 hydraulic oil and OMD75, engine oil without ill effect. We never had any seals fail on the steering system or indeed elsewhere. The steering system did not seem sensitive to viscosity of the oils but we did not use OMD 110 or OEP 220!!!. Dextron II or III is recommended for my Disco 2 but only in order to meet the cold weather requirements of the Active Cornering Enhancement system. Using anything other than bog standard ATF would, in my opinion, be a waste of money in an antediluvian Leyland Martian. The correct spec of transmission fluid in an automatic gear-box is important in order to match the friction material and seals. This is not an issue in an ancient power steering system. Use ordinary ATF and don't lose any sleep! John

We will have to see what more knowledgeable contributors say but I would have thought that ordinary automatic transmission fluid (ATF) would be fine for both. OM 33 is ordinary hydraulic oil. So far as the Martian is concerned, I would use ATF. What do others think? John

Dear All, Dear All, no it does not mean that Nick's bank accounts are 'freed'. UK High Street banks still cannot take the regulatory risk of dealing with Ukrainian businessmen. The financial returns are too small and yet the Financial Conduct Authority will fine them hundreds of thousands of pounds for any infringement of the Money Laundering Regulations. Government Ministers have said, on the Record, at the Despatch Box, that the complete integrity of the money laundering regulations is more important than allowing the export of AFVs to Ukraine. Treasury ministers do not seem to understand that there is a war on, albeit not directly involving us. Every AFV that Nicks sends out to Ukraine will provide protected mobility to another group of Ukrainian soldiers and avoid them being killed needlessly when compared to a soft skinned vehicle. If you do meet any elected politicians of any colour do raise the issue with them. Ask them "Are you aware that the Money Laundering Regulations are preventing the export of Armoured Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine and what are you going to to do about it?. John

Paul, I would be surprised if Leydene Glass in Petersfield cannot do it. They have a business that specialises in cab glass. John

Having gone to a very good school, I can do split rims myself. About 30 to 40 mins for the Contractor. The problem is getting rid of the old covers. John

Dear All, I remember something about a turbo charged L60 called Sundance and a very similar, if not identical, picture. Curiously, it was something to do with Scammell / Unipower. I believe that this was something to do with QA qualifications although that does sound odd. I would imagine that the porting arrangements in the liners would let out some exhaust first and thus get the turbo running the 'right' way and pushing some inlet air the 'right' way. Once it had started up correctly it would, presumably, not be a problem . The project that I would love to have done would be to fit an L60 to a Centurion / Conqueror. With the semi-auto box the driver can keep the engine working very hard all the time which is not necessarily all positive. Furthermore, the way the box works makes for more or less instant changes. With a manual box, you change gear when convenient which makes it harder to keep the engine working flat out all the time. What would a Cent ARV be like with an L60? Rads still over the gear box. Better access to engine. John

Rob, It looks like a standard FVRDE temp sender which works with the FVRDE instrument panel. I have never seen such a sender with a Plessey connector. I should have a spare plug with lead if you need it. John

I think that the longer term problem will be that petrol (or anything similar) is so dangerous to store. Our older vehicles are not too fussy about fuel quality although ethanol can be a problem. Remember that most of the cost of petrol to us is duty and VAT and there will be all sorts of volatile organic compounds that could be used to run an old petrol engine. So whilst it might not be too difficult to source, say, 1000 litres of fuel from the chemicals industry, storing it safely would be a different matter. Propane will be around for a long time. because it has a variety of uses. A bigger threat to using our older vehicles on the road may be a regulatory one concerning the interface between a self-driving vehicle and one of our simple conventional vehicles. Put simply, our vehicles will not be able to 'talk' to a future self-driving vehicle. John

Malcolm, I do know that there were some translated T55 manuals produced, probably 'just in case'. I would have thought that there would have been T72 manuals translated so it is worth looking hard. John